Headlines

Germany’s finance minister said he couldn’t rule out a Greek default, a stance that will add pressure on Athens as negotiations over much-needed financing enter their final stretch. Asked whether he would repeat an assurance he gave in late 2012 that Greece wouldn’t default, Wolfgang Schäuble told The Wall Street Journal and French daily Les Echos that “I would have to think very hard before repeating this in the current situation.

Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland were among six banks to be fined a total of $5.7 billion (£3.8 billion) by British and US regulators over allegations that they rigged the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market, The Standard reported. The settlement, which also involved US banks JP Morgan, Bank of America and Citi, as well as Switzerland’s UBS, means banks have handed authorities around $10 billion to deal with the scandal. Barclays, Citi, JPMorgan and RBS also all pleaded guilty to a US antitrust violation.

Last month more than 30 provincial taxi drivers drank poison and collapsed together on the busiest shopping street in Beijing in a dramatic protest against economic and working conditions in their home town, the Financial Times reported. The drivers, who the police say all survived, were from Suifenhe, a city on the Russian border in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

Russia on Wednesday demanded the timely repayment of all debts owed to it by Ukraine and accused Kiev of effectively preparing the way for default with a new law. It threatened to take the issue to international courts if necessary. The law, approved by Ukraine's parliament on Tuesday, gives the government the right to miss payments to its international creditors as it wrangles over the terms for restructuring $23 billion worth of foreign debt. Russia holds a $3 billion Ukrainian Eurobond whose full repayment is due by the end of the year.

The deal between the Canadian government and U.S. Steel that allowed the steelmaker to renege on its obligation to make steel in Canada — at plants in Hamilton and Nanticoke in Ontario — will remain a secret, CBC.ca reported. An Ontario Superior Court judge ruled that while it is reasonable that the deal be open, for fairness in the bankruptcy protection process, he dismissed an unsealing motion, saying he didn't have the authority to make that happen.

Cliffs Natural Resources Inc said on Wednesday it was seeking court protection from creditors of its Wabush iron ore mine and related assets in Eastern Canada, four months after it sought similar protection for its other Canadian iron ore assets. The U.S.-based iron ore and coal miner said it had concluded that a "more comprehensive restructuring and sale process" would result if it was able to include the Wabush group under the same creditor protection it obtained in January for its larger Bloom Lake iron ore assets in Quebec Superior Court.

Administrators of the furniture arm of failed lender African Bank Investments said on Tuesday creditors were paid 14 percent of what they were owed by Ellerine Furnishers, which had debts of around 1.3 billion rand ($109 million), Reuters reported. Administrators Matuson Associates said they paid out 14 cents for each rand owed, higher than the previously anticipated 13 cents per rand. Ellerine was forced into business rescue last year, which allows for temporary protection from creditors, as parent African Bank Investments crumbled under bad debts.

The European Central Bank is supposed to be apolitical but it has found itself ensnared by eurozone politics, the Financial Times reported. On Wednesday, the ECB’s 25-member governing council, which is led by ECB president Mario Draghi, could discuss toughening up the collateral requirements for the Bank of Greece’s emergency loans in a move that would make life harder for Greece and its banks. It is possible that two thirds of the council will support the move as soon as the Wednesday vote. The haircuts were lowered last year after Greece returned to capital markets.

Russia's top lender Sberbank has filed a lawsuit against mining company Mechel for 3.8 billion roubles ($77.74 million), the Moscow Arbitration Court reported on Tuesday. Russia's second largest state bank VTB also filed a lawsuit against the indebted steel and coal producer for 1.9 billion roubles ($38.87 million), the court reported in documents released on its website. Mechel, controlled by businessman Igor Zyuzin, incurred large debts before the economic downturn.

The number of Canadians who can’t pay their debts and are being forced into insolvency is on the rise for the first time since the recession, according to a report by CIBC. The bank says the cumulative number of insolvencies rose by 1.2 per cent in the six-month period ended in February. The overall increase came as personal bankruptcies fell by 4.7 per cent. However the number of proposals, where consumers negotiate to repay only a portion of their debt, rose by no less than nine per cent. CIBC economist Benjamin Tal noted the affect of lower oil prices is starting to show.